G12005 Habana – The Palace Colonnade, Columnala del Palacia. Republica De Cuba Tarjeta Posta. The Rotograph Co. N. Y. City (Germany) Rare, antique, very good condition. See photos for details.
Scott 228, Cuba 2 Centavos Stamp, Royal Palms, Cuba #CU228 1905 issue. Not canceled.
Cuba #CU228, 2¢ Royal Palms Stamp
Not long after the U.S. issued overprinted stamps for use in Cuba, new stamps were designed and printed by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The second of these stamps pictures a group of Royal Palms, the national tree of Cuba.
When the U.S. Battleship Maine mysteriously exploded after
being sent to Cuba to protect Americans caught in Cuba’s war for independence,
Spain was blamed. Soon after, war was
declared and America took administrative control of Cuba as well as Guam,
Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The
United States established a military government to run Cuba from 1898 until
1902, when the nation’s first president was elected.
Although many native Cubans were angered by U.S. policies,
social conditions improved a great deal during the American occupation. Most important was the effort led by Dr.
Walter Reed to combat the deadly “yellow fever.”
As an emergency measure in 1899, U.S. stamps were
overprinted for use in Cuba. The
overprinted stamps included the 1894 Bureau issues and the Series of 1898-99,
stamps that were commonly available at that time. Shortly after, the emerging republic issued
engraved pictorial stamps with distinctly Cuban themes that included
Christopher Columbus, royal palms, and ocean liners.
Two years later, Cuba drafted its own constitution and U.S.
military administration in Cuba ended in 1902 with the formation of the
Republic of Cuba. In less than four
years, Spain’s colonization of the Caribbean and Philippines had ended, and the
United States emerged as a world leader.
(Source Mystic Stamp Company.)
2 centavos stamp printed in the U.S. for use in occupied Cuba first printed in 1899. Royal palm trees are depicted. The five stamps in this series replaced the provisional overprint stamps issued at the beginning of 1899. This stamp is 1905.